Civil War timeline project

  • fugitive slave act

    a slave escaped and then sued the state for holding slaves
  • fugitive slave act

    a series of federal laws that required the return of escaped enslaved people to their owners
  • the compromise of 1850 is passed

    The slave that sued the state won and got released
  • the compromise of 1850 is passed

    a series of five laws enacted to defuse the sectional conflict over slavery, admitting California as a free state and organizing the Utah and New Mexico territories with the power of popular sovereignty to decide on slavery
  • uncle Tom's cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe published

    portrays the brutality of slavery and its effect on families, told through the story of the enslaved Uncle Tom and other characters like Eliza, who flees to freedom with her son
  • Frederick Douglass' "what to the slave, is the fourth of July"

    a famous 1852 speech where he argues that the Fourth of July celebration is a hollow and hypocritical mockery for enslaved people
  • Kansas-Nebraska act

    created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska and allowed residents to vote on whether to allow slavery in their territories through the principle of "popular sovereignty"
  • bleeding Kansas

    pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions clashed violently over whether Kansas would enter the Union as a slave or free state
  • dred Scott vs. Standford decision

    African Americans were not citizens and could not sue in federal court
  • John brown's raid on harpers ferry

    John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry was an attempt by the abolitionist John Brown and his followers to start an armed slave revolt by seizing a federal armory in Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in October 1859. The goal was to seize weapons and give them to enslaved people, sparking a rebellion and creating a free black stronghold in the mountains. The raid failed.
  • the bleeding of Kansas ends

    The anti-slavery forces prevailed as Kansas entered into the Union a free state on January 29, 1861
  • Abraham Lincoln is elected president

    Abraham Lincoln's election as president in 1860 was a pivotal event that centered on the issue of slavery's expansion. As the Republican candidate, he opposed allowing slavery in western territories, a stance that was unacceptable to the Southern states. His victory, which came before his inauguration, was followed by the secession of seven Southern states and ultimately led to the American Civil War, as they feared his presidency would threaten slavery.
  • South Carolina secedes

    its belief that the federal government would not protect the institution of slavery
  • the confederacy is born

    to preserve the institution of slavery, also lasted as long as the annoying orange.
  • the confederates states of America is formed

    The first seven states to secede were South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas, followed by Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee.